Opinions?

[Hans]

Since I don't want to be off topic in the other post I started my reaction here at Patrice.

I'm happy that you finally found a gear for your way of riding. But please don't repeat every day how happy you are, on all Forum over the world. We got the message. Here there are many riders who LOVE their Swoard... the original board which still suffers no comparison on the field of extremecarving (a discipline developed/improved with the Swoard).

By the way, I'm really surprised that you are one of the only guys who has sold his Northwaves... The best boot ever made.

Patrice, since when do you have the sole privilege to say I can't give my (repeated) opinion on a snowboard? So you are appealing to me to react to you. I do that one time and then I stop (otherwise give me an email). Second I think that's my positive opinion on a new board and not yours. I even PM other persons who ask me for an opinion about my equipment so I can avoid to post here too often. Seems persons may only write positive things about the only board here, and that's a Swoard. Yes I had a lot of fun with my Swoard 3D 1st gen, but that was then. Now I found another board that is being built of other more modern materials that suits me better. Building boards sometimes has some modern developments, and you must know better. For example, you said yourself that the 3th gen. of the Swoard excels the 1st and 2nd gen. by far. And that's no shame. Do you still ride your 1st gen 3D, I think not........ So boards are evolving by better R&D and that's a good thing. Even the Swoard does. Or did you testride the new boards to get the same result as the 1. gen. ?? I think not. The 1st gen. was a good board then, but there are boards with better ridingcharacteristics now. This doens't mean people still can't love their 1st gen. Swoard. I still loved my Swoard but liked my other newer boards better so I sold my Swoard to a guy who may be has a lot of fun with it, like I did in the past. Otherwise my Swoard and (non-intec) Northwaves were collecting dust, and that would be a waste.

Patrice, do you have the only rights here and in other forums to talk about the Swoard because you are the builder? Spread the Swoardword man, you are a good salesman who is promoting his product and ridingstyle and technique, nothing wrong with that. It seems you don't know what has happened here. You (Swoardteam) were the guys that asked me in a topic here to write reviews about my non Swoardboards. I did write one review here and my head was cut off immediately because I was too positive/enthousiastic like you are on the Swoard here so I deleted my review and posted it on BOL were members have a more positive attitude towards people who write a review. The only forum I posted that, was on BOL and here, about my Schtubby X2. And only in topics concerning this new board. Yes I am enthousiastic about this board so are you about your new Swoard. Nothing wrong with that. You say it every day that the Swoard is the only extremecarver. You may say that so am I about another board. And I am not the only person who is positive about this Coiler. On the other pond Bruce can hardly handle his production scheme.

By the way, why should I be careful with NGSAM? She is sticking her own neck out here to have a very own opinion without any arguments. So I confrontated her with her own nonargumental statements. And she did give some arguments to clarify her opinion better, nothing more nothing less. And I was not the only person who criticized here opinion which had some unwritten and refering lines in it (narrow boards - germans: may be Virus: can't be a coincidence). Be clear about this, or don't write it at all. She is provocing people here with her almost-non-said-but-reading-refering-between-the lines opinion, without knowing it seems. I can't hardly believe it since she writes very direct sometimes.

May be another proposal. If you want reviews here on other boards than Swoard may be you can open a new theme here without people having the possibility to write a direct reaction on it, just like in the forum of BOL:http://www.bomberonline.com/reviews/index.cfm. May be I write another enthousiatic (non)critical review in the future then if it will be appreciated.

[fivat]

The quote is out of context. For people interested in reading the original thread, here is the link (but there is no interest, only egos...):
viewtopic.php?t=4470

Seems persons may only write positive things about the only board here, and that's a Swoard.

Are you joking? I can't believe that you write this or want to give people an untrue image of this Forum well known for its quality, its open spirit and good atmosphere (till some recent bad vibes from 2-3 writers).
There are tons of reviews about other brands in this Forum! From day one in 2002 people were free to post all what they wanted to say. We had to moderate only 2 or 3 threads about a recent board which was a copy attempt of the Swoard, with the same model name (!), made in a Chinese way.
There are for example hundreds reviews about the F2 boards, especially in the Italian section. It's just crazy: F2 Forum is actually here!
Among all the positive reviews about the Swoard, you can find (fortunately!) a few negative impressions (and we, or some members, help to figure out what was wrong: setup or technique, etc.). We accept everything! Is it possible to post on F2 website negative reviews?

Could you imagine a Burton Forum where people post things about the Nidecker boards? It would be crazy. But here we accept everything, even reviews about the German brand with whom we didnt work well with , as long as it concerns original boards (note: you have no idea of what happened exactly and truly with the preceding factory because it's not public business, and because the Swoard team prefers to go ahead instead of losing energy in negativity). Amazing, no?

You (Swoardteam) were the guys that asked me in a topic here to write reviews about my non Swoardboards.

Yes, we (Nils) did ask you to post such a review and I was OK with it! It's another example of what would never happen elsewhere: Virus asking for a review about a Donek board?

So please don't make believe to the readers untrue things about this Forum. Maybe you are sincere, but you are wrong, sorry, and don't realize it. You should talk with us (by phone or Skype, not by e-mail) because there must be a big misunderstanding. You could have heard on the German slopes or read in the FB Forum untrue things. Don't wonder why, after what happened with the preceding factory and all the lies (for which Swoard doesn't care).

This Forum is probably the only one run by a snowboard brand. Bomber is a bindings brand. So it's natural that we speak here a minimum about the Swoard boards. Everyone can understand this. We made separate sections for this ("SWOARD Extremecarving boards") so that people who are not interested even don't see the Swoard reviews written by the fans! Cool, no?

We don't deserve your reaction at all. Fortunately such posts are seldom and only 2-3 persons are concerned. I often see bad things and flames in the other snowboard Forum. Many people tell us that the EC Forum has a nice quality and good atmosphere (I'm also talking about the French and Italian sections, which are very very cool ). So we will do our possible to keep this.

I don't care about your problems with Samanta. I respect her because she has worked hundreds hours for the community, as a volunteer, organizing with me the last Extremecarving Session 2008. All participants love her for her excellent work and the meeting we got. She may appear sometimes too direct, but she is like that and you have to accept this. Without her energy the last ECS would not have been so great!

Now calm down please. You are just misjudging many things. Internet and its blabla has perverse sides. On March-April I did not post anything for 3 weeks... and for sure I won't post a lot in the future because of few people with bad vibes who don't see all what we give to the community (yes, we give a lot, even to people who are not Swoard owners). You have no idea about the hidden part of the iceberg. I prefer to keep my energy for constructive things and working on new projects (boards, movies, etc.).

Patrice Fivat

[Hans]

Patrice as I wrote before I give no further personal reaction, I stop here. I drink a beer with you at next ECS

[fivat]

When people meet in real life they appear very different and can be friends!

I hate Internet on the fact that it often provokes misunderstandings and wrong perceptions.

Beer is a real perception! Well... too many beers can change perception too.

Patrice Fivat

[rilliet]

We could make a list of other snowboard manufacturers forums... and see how they manage freedom of speech.

Jacques

[McFussel]

I am VERY sad to read this fred - and it will be the last post on this forum for a long time!

"You could have heard on the German slopes or read in the FB Forum untrue things. Don't wonder why, after what happened with the preceding factory and all the lies (for which Swoard doesn't care). "


If this is not flaming?

There has never been bad words about swoard or extreme carving! I'm very disapointed!!

[Pogokoenig]

We could make a list of other snowboard manufacturers forums... and see how they manage freedom of speech.

Jacques and Patrice, when I came to this site for the first it seemed that this is a site for extreme carving. Not a manufacturer forum and not a forum for the "one and only technique". I met a lot of good guys here, learned a lot and provided a lot of information by myself to this community. You talk about alpine rebirth and a great community. But with the above statements you have proven, that none of this is true. All is about marketing the SWOARDs, isn't it? I can get a step further and state that you use the guys who deliver value and input to the EC-forum as a means of marketing. As I count myself (and others) as value adder in this forum, i must ask the question: How much do you pay me for posting here?

Yes, we (Nils) did ask you to post such a review and I was OK with it! It's another example of what would never happen elsewhere: Virus asking for a review about a Donek board?

Are you sure? Frank has been the first to come to the Freecarving-Masters in Soelden. He was the one who supported us in contacting other brands for the board testival. He has sent his boards to the WCS in Davos and gave them to compare with other brands.

In general I am a very diplomatic person who wants this small community being close together. I am respecting the things you have achieved here and what you have done to carving. And until now I have respected your hostility here. But for sure I have to make two more statements:

1. What did you invent here? The only technique here is doing two turns. One to the left and one to the ride. Fullstop! Do you in fact mean that this small niche can represent this great sport. What do you think when you see, what a guy like Joerg Egli has done in the last decades for this sport in comparison to the so called PushPull. Have you tried riding a PB "two"?

2. Most guys that I met with a SWOARD and tested another one -more versatile, better constructed - would like to sell the SWOARD afterwards for buying a new more suitable board. Now we can question, why we cannot find SWOARDs on testivals with different brands. To me this looks like:"We are best in class (as long as the others are on the toilet.)"

Maybe my account gets banned afterwards but same as McFussel, I don't care.

If you want me to stay here I have just one claim? I prefer cash. Don't try to give me a SWOARD as remuneration. When I ride a wide board, I like a versatile one with good powderability and snap - not a lame (wild)duck!

[RicHard]

[...]

Well... I'm not addicted to EC (every of you knows it) but... I think that your post is just pointing to a couple of Fivat/Rilliet's statements IGNORING all the rest he wrote and I want to write something about.
As first, you ignored all the rest of his post (extracting a couple of rows can NEVER describe the whole post if the rest of it says different things).
Then, you go on another way (far from the original subject) attacking someone (EC team) for considering itself a God for inventing "just a way to make a couple of turns".
Please, if so many people like this way of making a couple of turns and someone keep a big forum like this alive just because he invented a way of making a couple of turns... well... it could be your "vision", to be a little bit "out of range".
I was just reading the posts but now I'm writing because I can see the someone is trying to throw water on the fire and someone else is throwing petrol on it.
Noone of the readers can really consider opinions of persons that seems just to throw petrol on the fire.
Regards,
Richard.

[fivat]

There has never been bad words about swoard or extreme carving! I'm very disapointed!!

Not true at all, and there are many witnesses... But I don't care. It's just blabla from a few persons.

Don't worry, you are not responsible of what your members post on your Forum, as well I'm not responsible of what some guys post here. That's Internet...

Patrice Fivat

[Whitey]

It could be a good idea to lock this thread right now and prevent bad vibes to pollute this great forum any further

[pokkis]

Yah i agree, all get little bit touchy when slopes are closing and snow is melting away.

[fivat]

To Pogokoenig:

I won't let you make people believe other untrue things about us. Jacques and I said publicly, in front of the 200 participants of the ECS 08, that we are not professionals in the snowboard industry though we have made a snowboard very professionally (with Jacques' long experience as a shaper, with his know-how, his know-how-to-ride and his high sensitivity). This means that we have other full time jobs and don't depend on Swoard financially.

Thus we don't really need to make marketing as you say. All the other brands have to! It's everywhere. If you read the Bomber Forum, you will see a lot of threads which are there for promotion purposes (sometimes it's subtle). They are often posted by the bosses of the concerned brands (US, Canadian, German, etc.) or by people who have some interests (riders, retailers, friends)! And I won't talk here about FB Forum: susceptibilities seem too high.

As I explained, we made separate sections ("SWOARD Extremecarving boards") so that people who are not interested in the Swoard reviews written by the fans even don't see them! But they inevitably see all the reviews concerning other brands in the "Miscellaneous", the French and the Italian parts. Do you really think it's marketing for Swoard?

We made this Forum for the alpine community in general and also:

1) To explain our technique (that we developed from various influences: in that sense it's not an "invention"). Since 2002 people had many questions and asked us to explain how we manage to make such linked and fully laid turns and what are our setting, etc.
Of course after several years, answers after answers, the first members can now have the wrong impression that we are always speaking about "one and only one technique". No, it's just that many people (and new comers) are interested in our technique and that this Forum is the best place where we can explain and answer. Besides this we are always open minded and love to discuss about other techniques and subjects. I even posted here, myself, Mc Fussel's videos!! He has not the same technique but I appreciate everything about alpine snowboarding. There are many other movies and pictures from other riders with all styles. Our racer Antoine (on Swoard) has a technique which is different from mine and it's cool. I like to ride with him and exchange our experiences.

2) To answer to questions about the Swoard: "what board size and flex for me?", "how should I sharpen the edges of my Swoard?", "why the intec bindings are not recommended?", etc. It's the support! And it's pretty cool! I know NO snowboard brand which has a Forum where it's possible to ask questions about the product!!

Thus this Forum is a unique place with no comparison in the other brands. It's open to other techniques and even to other brands (as long as it's about products made loyally). It has many positive aspects, but you have to accept that there is a support section about Swoard which is running this site. There is no particular banner or advertisement!
We don't post our reviews on the other Forum world wide (it's not the case of Virus for example), it's only there in a separate section that you can avoid easily.
This is not really commercial from us, no?

Moreover, please, don't compare us with other guys who are working at 100% for their brands. They have full time for this, for travelling around the world, for promoting their boards and making real marketing, etc. We absolutely can't go to all events and won't do as long as we are a "different" brand.

Most guys that I met with a SWOARD and tested another one -more versatile, better constructed - would like to sell the SWOARD afterwards for buying a new more suitable board.

Strange. I get feedbacks from everywhere and hear exactly the opposite. Probably you are talking about riders who use 70° bindings angle, stiff boots, or inadequate technique, what is the worse you can do on a wide board like the Swoard. The goal of this Forum is also, as I wrote above, to explain people how to ride the Swoard with which setup.
At the Extremecarving Session, people understand all this and love the board, especially the 3rd generation which is even much better than what we made in 2003. You should join next year.
My girl-friend is learning snowboarding on a Swoard and is loving it. It's very versatile.
I wonder why you write such untrue things and show so aggressive and disrespectful. Without giving numbers there, I can tell you that this season was very successful for Swoard snowboards. It allows us to go ahead and invest in new great projects and developments.

I don't wait for your apologies, but I would appreciate them (by e-mail for example). Swoard is really cool, open minded, and not focusing on money as the other brands. Open your eyes. When you are talking about "hostility", I see it on your side and very few other members, fortunately.

Patrice Fivat